White Mama 1980

A poor, elderly white woman living in a tenement in a black ghetto is befriended by a neighborhood boy, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial relationship: he provides her companionship and protection, and she becomes the mother he never had. White Mama is a 1980 television film drama directed by Jackie Cooper and adapted from the novel of the same name by Robert C. S. Downs.

Davis portrays Adele Malone, a poor, elderly woman living in a ghetto who befriends a young African American man played by Harden. He offers her protection while she assumes the role of a mother to him.

For her performance, Davis was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.